This invention relates to a drainage channel having a locking, slotted grate for being positioned in and covering the opening of a drainage channel body. The drainage channel of the general type disclosed herein is preferably cast of polyester concrete. In may cases this type of drainage channel body is installed without anchoring the grate. Subsequent to installation, however, it often becomes desirable or necessary to anchor the grate into the channel body. This operation involves considerable expense and work. The grates must be removed and openings knocked into the longitudinal walls of the channel body in order to insert the ends of a locking strap which is held by a bolt to the grate. Such operations are often hampered by poor visibility as well as by an imprecise geometrical definition of the exact location of the knocked out areas.
Even when the grate is locked into the channel immediately upon installation, most channels simply provide an area of reduced wall thickness which must be knocked out by a workman with a chisel before installation of the channel into the ground. This operation is slow and expensive.